Current Lesson No. Twenty-Four
What Will Be Our New Normal?
Agency and accountability will be an essential part of our new normal – There will be a similar new normal for most people. For example, societal patterns for work, education, and shopping will change. Businesses in various sectors of the economy will have a new normal. But the most important question is how we let the new normal effect our personal lives, and that will depend on the choices we make.
The new normal will give us the opportunity to make life changing choices now and for eternity. The new normal will bring many choices that will come to us in ways we have not previously experienced. The just and holy principles of agency and accountability (see D&C 101:77-78) will be very apparent in the new normal as we will have choices to make for which we will be accountable.
The First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has taught the importance of agency and accountability: “While you are free to choose your course of action, you are not free to choose the consequences. Whether for good or bad, consequences follow as a natural result of the choices you make” (For the Strength Youth, Agency and Accountability). The council given in For the Strength of Youth generally applies regardless of age or circumstances.
Our new normal will likely bring more discretionary time to use wisely or to waste – Most people will have additional discretionary time through technology. Many will reduce travel time to work or to shop. We will be able to choose how to use our extra time.
Extra time can be spent in service to God and to others – It is through service that we come to know the Lord (see Mosiah 5:13) and to become more like Him. For their labors in doing the work of the Lord, people at the time of Alma the Elder “received the grace of God” (Mosiah 18:26). Grace is celestial currency, and those who serve the Lord are not paid with money, but they are paid with grace. Grace enables a person to endure to the end, and “to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts” (LDS Bible Dictionary, Grace).
“As you devote yourself to serving others, you will draw closer to Heavenly Father. Your heart will be filled with love. You will learn that service and sacrifice are ways to overcome selfishness. You will enjoy happiness that comes only from giving service to God and others. Your capacities will increase, and you will be an instrument in God’s hands to bless the lives of His children” (For the Strength of Youth, Service).
Extra time can be used for education and to develop or enhance our skills – This makes us more self-reliant and confident in the future. “The education you gain will be valuable to you during mortality and in the life to come. Education will prepare you for greater service in the world and in the Church. It will help you better provide for yourself, your family, and those in need. Education is an investment that brings great rewards and will open the doors of opportunity that may otherwise be closed to you” (For the Strength of Youth, Education).
Extra time can be spent learning to work – “Work is honorable. Developing the capacity to work will help you contribute to the world in which you live. It will bring you an increased sense of self-worth. It will bless you and your family, both now and in the future….Set high goals for yourself, and be willing to work hard to achieve them. Develop self-discipline, and be dependable….One of the blessings of work is developing self-reliance. When you are self-reliant, you use the blessings and abilities God has given you to care for yourself and your family and to find solutions for your own problems” (For the Strength of Youth, Work and Self-Reliance).
Extra time can be wasted abusing technology – “You live in a day of marvelous technologies that give you easy access to a wide variety of media, including the Internet, mobile devices, video games, television, movies, music, books, and magazines. The information and entertainment provided through these media can increase your ability to learn, communicate, and become a force for good in the world. However, some information and entertainment can lead you away from righteous living…Take care that your use of media does not dull your sensitivity to the Spirit or interfere with your personal relationships with others” (For the Strength of Youth, Entertainment and Media).
President Russell M. Nelson taught the most important part of what our new normal should be – “Today we often hear about ‘a new normal.’ If you really want to embrace ‘a new normal,’ I invite you to turn your heart and mind and soul increasingly to our Heavenly Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ. Let that be your ‘new normal.’ Latter-day Saints can embrace a new normal by repenting daily, seeking to be increasingly pure in thought and deed, ministering to others, keeping an eternal perspective, and magnifying their callings” (Russell M. Nelson, October 2020 General Conference, concluding sermon).